ST. LOUIS - The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) have advertised the contract to construct the main span of the Mississippi River Bridge.

Each of the four prequalified contractors has a month to put together a team to construct the bridge and submit a bid. The advertising period for the main span will end when bids are opened on December 8.   The Missouri and Illinois Departments of Transportation will review the bids before the contract is awarded in December.

"When Illinois and Missouri agreed to construct the Mississippi River Bridge in February 2008, we agreed to a specific timeline for the project - including the dates to award the main span contract," said Gregory Horn, P.E., Mississippi River Bridge project director. "The leadership of the two states established this timeline to keep the project on budget and on time to open the bridge by January 2014. This is an important project to improve mobility in the greater St. Louis metropolitan region, and needs to be completed as quickly as possible."

The four teams prequalified to bid on the main span are Kiewit Western Co., a joint venture between American Bridge Co. and Dragados USA, a joint venture between Walsh Construction and PCL, and a joint venture between Massman Construction Co., Traylor Brothers and Alberici Enterprises.

These contractor teams have worked with the two transportation departments to incorporate Alternate Technical Concepts - confidential and individualized proposals using the latest advances in construction technology - into the baseline plans. These proposals are intended to increase contractor innovations and lower the overall cost for the bridge. The main span contract will be awarded to the contractor team with the lowest, responsive and responsible bid.

The current Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal for the main span is 18 percent. MoDOT has incorporated several methods into the contract to improve the fairness in contracting to all potential subcontractors. MoDOT intends to partner with the prime contractor to develop and implement strategies that open up new opportunities for socially and economically disadvantaged businesses to become an integral part to the bridge's completion.

When completed, the $640 million Mississippi River Bridge project will relocate Interstate 70 one mile north of the Martin Luther King Bridge. The four-lane bridge - two lanes in each direction - will remove about 40,000 vehicles daily from existing downtown bridges when complete. Additionally, by relocating Interstate 70 off the Poplar Street Bridge, the new Mississippi River Bridge will make the PSB safer by eliminating congestion and traffic weaving. The new MRB will connect into the I-70/I-55/I-64 interchange in Illinois and into Cass Avenue near I-70 in Missouri.

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